tories. "If it is,
we'll make a perfect lady out of this unmanageable man-killer yet!"

CHAPTER VIII

The Super-Ship Is Launched

After weeks of ceaseless work, during which was lavished upon her every
resource of mind and material afforded by three planets, the _Boise_ was
ready for her maiden flight. As nearly ready, that is, as the thought
and labor of man could make her. Rodebush and Cleveland had finished
their last rigid inspection of the craft and, standing beside the center
door of the main airlock, were talking with their chief.

"You say that you think that it's safe, and yet you won't take a crew,"
Samms argued. "In that case it isn't safe enough for you men, either. We
need you too badly to permit you to take such chances."

"You've _got_ to let us go; because we are the only ones who are
thoroughly familiar with her theory," Rodebush insisted. "I said, and
still say, that I _think_ it is safe. I can't prove it, however, except
mathematically; because she's altogether too full of too many new and
untried mechanisms, too many extrapolations beyond all existing or
possible data. Theoretically, she is sound, but you know that theory can
go only so far, and that mathematically negligible factors may become
operative at those velocities. We do not need a crew for a short trip.
We can take care of any minor mishaps, and if our fundamental theories
are wrong, all the crews between here and Jupiter wouldn't do any good.
Therefore we two are going--alone."

"Well, be very careful, anyway. Start out slow and take it easy."

"Start out slow? We can't! We can't neutralize half of gravity, nor half
of the inertia of matter--it's got to be everything or nothing, as soon
as the neutralizers go on. We could start out on the projectors, of
course, instead of on the neutralizers, but that wouldn't prove anything
and would only prolong the agony."

"Well, then, be as careful as you can."

"We'll do that, Chief," Cleveland put in. "We think a lot of us, and we
aren't committing suicide just yet if we can help it. And remember about
everybody staying inside when we take off--it's barely possible that
we'll take up a lot of room. Good-bye to all of you."

"Good-bye, fellows!"

The massive insulating doors were shut, the metal side of the mountain
opened, and huge, squat caterpillar tractors came roaring and clanking
into the room. Chains and cables were made fast and, mighty steel rails
groaning under the l